MILLSBORO – A Christmas tree can do a lot to brighten up a room, but it means even more comfort for grieving families.

On Dec. 12, Sussex Technical High School students Karrsin Mitchell, 14, and Brittany Ritter, 14, put the finishing touches on a Christmas tree they donated to the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Millsboro. The tree adorned with gold ornaments and ribbon brightened up the small parlor where many families sit before attending the funeral service in the chapel.

“I can’t say how proud we are that they took time out of their busy Christmas season to think of others and decorate this tree,” said Rep. John Atkins, D-Millsboro, who lit the tree with the girls.

It isn’t the first time Mitchell and Ritter have given their service to the veterans’ cemetery. The two began a project last year with the cemetery as part of their volunteer hours for their National Junior Honor Society Committee.

“We noticed most kids would do something simple such as work at a concession stand for school, but we didn’t want to just earn hours that way,” Ritter said. “We wanted to do a service project and we both could relate to this place.”

Ritter’s grandmother, whose husband is a veteran, is buried in the cemetery and Mitchell’s uncle is a Marine Corps veteran. When the two visited the cemetery last year, they noticed rows of bare headstones without a Christmas wreath to honor the men and women. Since many of the veterans’ family members have passed away as well, Ritter and Mitchell took it upon themselves to make 30 wreaths for the headstones.

“It’s just the whole idea of serving people who have served us,” Mitchell said. “It’s a good theme to stick with and represent the veterans who lost their lives to protect us.”

The girls also made two vases filled with evergreens and tied them with a stuffed animal to lay at two grave sites where the names of 52 children are inscribed. The two stainless steel coffins below them hold the children’s remains, whose grave represents their first home on American soil. Their parents were airmen stationed at Wheelus Air Base which operated near Tripoli, Libya from 1958-72.

The children were originally buried at the Hammangi Cemetery in Libya. But when the cemetery was downsized, the children and two nuns were repatriated at the Millsboro cemetery in 2007.

Though the U.S. State Department was able to contact 18 family members of the 72 children found at Hammangi, the Veterans Memorial Cemetery took the 52 who went unclaimed. While the headstones have a few full names, many more are simply written “infant.”

“We put flags out for them, but there’s no family left,” said Cemetery Adminstrator Greg Bee. “It’s good these girls have taken interest in veteran issues, some of these veterans don’t have anybody.”